Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
Sunak unopposed to replace Truss as leader of Tory Party
FORMER CHANCELLOR TO ACCEPT OFFER TO FORM GOVERNMENT AS PM
RISHI Sunak was set to become Britain’s 57th Prime Minister yesterday as the Gazette went to press, after Boris Johnson pulled out of the race on Sunday night and challenger Penny Mordaunt failed to secure enough nominations for a member ballot.
Mr Sunak was far in the lead in terms of MP nominations, with 199 Tory members of Parliament behind him as of Monday at noon.
Mr Sunak served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 before dramatically resigning in July in a move that helped bring down Mr Johnson over sleaze scandals and partygate.
He had previously served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2019 to 2020. The MP for Richmond (Yorks) since 2015 will become Britain’s first Hindu PM, just weeks after he lost the race against Liz Truss and Ms Mordaunt to become Conservative leader.
It comes after former Cabinet minister Michael Gove called for Tories to unite behind Mr Sunak in the leadership contest on Monday, as he pulled ahead of Ms Mordaunt in MP nominations. Mr Gove said: “It is time now for the Conservative Party to unite behind Rishi Sunak – there are big challenges ahead and the national interest requires us to show resolution and fortitude under new leadership.”
Just before 2pm on Monday, Ms Mordaunt announced she was pulling out of the race, saying on Twitter: “Our Party is our membership. Whether we are elected representatives, activists, fundraisers or supporters. We all have a stake in who our leader is. These are unprecedented times. Despite the compressed timetable for the leadership contest it is clear that colleagues feel we need certainty today. They have taken this decision in good faith for the good of the country. Members should know that this proposition has been fairly and thoroughly tested by the agreed 1922 process.
“As a result, we have now chosen our next Prime Minister. This decision is an historic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party. Rishi has my full support. I am proud of the campaign we ran and grateful to all those, across all sides of our party, who gave me their backing. We all owe it to the country, to each other and to Rishi to unite and work together for the good of the nation. There is much work to be done”.
Mr Sunak was seen as vindicated after he campaigned in the last leadership contest in July against Ms Truss’ tax cuts, saying they would trigger further inflation and market turmoil. Ms Truss lasted just 45 days in office amid a hostile market reaction to her swift tax-cutting policies, triggering a series of U-turns that crushed her credibility.
On Monday morning, MP Nadine Dorries suggested it was not “the end of Mr Johnson” after the former PM ruled himself out of the race for No 10. The ex-Cabinet minister said “hours of conversations” took place between Mr Johnson, Mr Sunak and Ms Mordaunt to agree on a unified solution, but the remaining candidates “declined to come together”, choosing to “go on their own path”, she told Times Radio.
Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s deputy leader, said: “The Tories are about to hand Rishi Sunak the keys to the country without him saying a single word about how he would govern. No one voted for this. Perhaps it’s not surprising he’s avoiding scrutiny: after all, he was so bad that just a few weeks ago he was trounced by Liz Truss. All anyone knows about him is that he broke the law, he was rejected by his own party because he created a vicious cycle of low growth, he did nothing to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, that his family avoided paying tax in this country; and that he betrayed Boris Johnson to get his job. It’s why we need an election now – people deserve a vote on the future of the country.”